Born to Fly
by mily.alice
Summary: "He'd had five meetings with a social worker, two assessments of his home, and endless signatures. But finally that little girl who had walked into Stark Industries on a miserable birthday was now a Stark. Josephine Margaret Stark, to be exact." In which Tony takes in a broken little girl, and somewhere along the way she manages to fix HIM. *Follows Iron Man, Hulk, Iron Man 2, Thor
1. Chapter 1

**Yay new story! And a new genre to boot :)**

**I have had a pretty good reaction to my Harry Potter story so hopefully you all like this one!**

**Disclaimer: A lot of people own a lot of rights to a lot of Marvel stuff. I am not one of these people. That is all.**

October 12, 1998

The entrance hall of Stark Industries Factory in LA was bustling with people at 10 o'clock on a Monday morning. Everybody rushed past on their way upstairs to work, or outside with an errand to run. Nobody stood still, except for one man. At first glance he was just some guy in a baseball hat and hooded sweatshirt, but a closer look could reveal him to be Tony Stark, current CEO of Stark Industries, staring tightlipped and furrow-browed at the giant Arc Reactor in the center of the room. It was his first time out of his underground lab at home since three days ago, when he'd started working on something groundbreaking, but he'd hit a mental block for the past five hours and had finally decided to come down to SI's R&D building and do what he always did.

The Arc Reactor didn't actually do anything other than work as a big flashlight, and yet Tony found himself staring at it for up to hours on end when he needed answers, from the smallest of life's mysteries to his greatest inventions. Maybe it was because this was one of his father's last (and largest) finished projects, or maybe it was because of the big warm light and the soft buzzing, but the Arc Reactor had been helping him solve his problems since he was five.

When he was seven and built his first engine, it took twenty minutes of staring at the thing for him to figure out the last steps all on his own. When he'd been excepted into MIT at an extremely early age, an hour in front of the Reactor made him relive all of his father's disappointed looks and how he felt as though he'd never be good enough, and so he had decided to get out and go to MIT. At seventeen it had helped him figure out how to approach sex for the first time, since despite popular belief he had managed to make it through college a virgin. And on that fateful night at twenty-one years-old, he'd snuck into the already closed SI building, a bottle of Vodka in one hand and whiskey in another, TV images of car rubble and two covered stretchers flooding his mind. The guard had seen him almost at once, but had then walked off to another floor, allowing Tony to sit there, drunk, unable to cry, and listening to the hum of his father's great creation until the early hours of the morning.

And so today found him twenty minutes in to a staring contest with a giant battery in the middle of his own entrance hall looking (and probably smelling) like a homeless person.

"Excuse me."

He was snapped out of his thoughts by a tugging on the hem of his shirt. A child was pulling on his shirt, looking up at him with questioning yet calculating eyes. A flash of recognition passed through her eyes, but she seemed unfazed.

"Yeah, kid?" he asked, taking in the appearance of the little girl. Short, maybe four or five years old (he could never tell the difference with children), with messy coppery brown curls and big brown eyes. She had light brown skin and very Latin-American characteristics in her facial and body structure.

"It says this is an eclec-eclec," the little girl sighed and pushed her bangs back, as if this was a common struggle for her, and turned back to the plaque by the Arc Reactor, "El-ec-tro-MAAG-net. That's like a battery, right?"

Tony raised his eyebrows at the kid's knowledge. That was new "How old are you, kid?"

She looked shyly at the floor and answered in a quiet voice, "I turn six today," and then her countenance changed suddenly, her eyebrow furrowing and her chin sticking up, "You didn't answer my question!"

"Oh. That. Yeah, it's sort of like a battery, I guess."

"What does it power?" asked the little girl.

"Just the lights."

"Oh," the little girl looked like he'd just told her Santa Claus wasn't real, which brought back a wave of memories from when he was six years old.

_There is no Santa Claus! Alright?! No need for stupid letters or cookies or any of that! Just tell Jarvis whatever crap you want and he'll go buy it with my credit card. Now get out of my office!_

"Hey, I didn't—"

"Josephine!"

A man was walking fast toward Tony and the little girl, looking ready to have a heart attack.

"Looks like your dad found you."

The little girl gave him a look of disgust and contempt that he didn't think small children were capable of making, "Mr. Patterson is _not_ my dad."

As the man reached them, something clicked in his head. A vague memory of two days ago, when his assistant of the month had been pestering him about giving a welcome speech until Obie had caught up with them and told the assistant he'd take care of it. An orphanage visit. The little girl had probably split from her orphanage to come look at the Arc Reactor up close.

"You scared the living hell out of me! What did I say about wandering off? Just wait until we get back to the orphanage, young lady…"

Tony watched with narrowed eyes. The man's grip on the little girl's arm was a bit too tight for comfort, but not tight enough to capture the attention of the people walking by. His hurried words came out in a threatening hiss. The little girl's eyes were wide and afraid, a look that Tony knew too well. Tony wasn't sure if he wanted to throw up, punch this man in the face, or both.

"What would Mr. Stark say if he saw—"

"Ahem," Tony cleared his throat loudly, "I'm no Tony Stark, but I think he would approve. Oh wait…I am Tony Stark. Yup. Definitely approve."

"M-Mr. Stark."

"Yeah. We already established that. You're from the orphanage, right?'

The man nodded, trying to make his speech work, "Chris Patterson."

"Yeah. Got that off the nametag," said Tony, looking around for his assistant. She should be somewhere close, ready to pester him over something. Sure enough, she was waiting for him by the elevator, "Jenny!"

The assistant ran toward him immediately, stumbling more than once on her too-high-for-work high heels.

"Yes, Mr. Stark?"

"Give Mr. Patterson and his orphanage kids a proper tour of the factory. Except for this kid. She's going with me to my private lab."

Tony tried his hand at a kind smile, which must have been at least a little reassuring, because the little girl's kicked puppy look was instantly switched for a hopeful puppy look.

"Right away, Mr. Stark. Sir, if you'd follow me…"

Patterson walked off with Jenny, still sputtering like an idiot. The little girl looked like Christmas had come early.

"Alright, uh," he looked at the girl's nametag, "Josephine."

The girl made a face, "Joei. Josephine sounds like an old person."

"Joei it is, then. We're going down to my lab so I can show you what a _real_ arc reactor does. But first we have to make a quick stop in my friend Obie's office."

"Kay," she said, following Tony as he headed toward the elevators.

They stepped into the private elevator, far too spacious for one person.

"Joei, I'm going to ask you a few questions."

The girl's eyes flickered to the side and her breathing became short and quick. She was scared, he realized, and he remembered again. He remembered the fear of telling someone, anyone, what went on behind closed doors.

"You're not in trouble," he assured, "And I'm going to make sure Patterson never hurts you or any other kid again, alright? But I need you to tell me a couple things. Can you do that?"

She nodded silently.

"Okay. How many times a day do you eat?"

She stared at him for a while, and it surprised Tony how her childish face takes on an adult look. She was gauging him, trying to figure out whether or not to trust this strange man who was being nice to her for some reason.

"Two," she finally answered, "Sometimes three, but we don't get dinner if somebody misbehaves. And somebody almost always misbehaves."

"You get meals taken away as punishment?" asked Tony, rage building in his gut. These were kids! Some as young as three years old if he recalled the paperwork correctly. Howard had been a son of a bitch, but he'd never taken away food from Tony for doing something. He took a deep breath for the next question, "Do you have your own room?"

"No."

"Your own bed?"

"No."

Tony strictly recalled paying for enough beds for each child.

"How many kids share abed?"

"Two. Sometimes three when they're small enough."

"How many beds are in each room?"

"Three."

"What about all the empty rooms?"

"One of them is Mr. Patterson's bedroom. And the other is his upstairs office. And another is where he takes his special guests. And another one where he keeps his grown up drinks."

"He gets drunk in the orphanage?" Tony struggled to keep his voice steady. He could admit to himself that he was a downright drunk, but he had never gotten drunk in front of kids. He'd sworn that to himself around two a.m. after his parents' accident. He swore to never be like Howard. He swore to make kids' lives better instead of worse. That's why he'd done this stupid orphanage project in the first place, because on that fateful December night when he'd gotten drunk enough to puke on the edge of the arc reactor twice, he'd made himself some big promises to never be his father.

"It's okay as long as he doesn't get mad. If he gets mad, the older kids help us hide and then Mr. Patterson only hits them, but they're big so he doesn't hurt them much. There's also the timeout room. That's where we go if we do something really bad like talk when Mr. Patterson is talking. There's a really big shower in there and Mr. Patterson turns it on for twenty minutes and then we have to stay there for the rest of the day."

Tony practically growled.

"Wait here, alright?" he told Joei, pointing to the couch in Obie's waiting room at the factory. It, along with Obie's office, er a lot smaller than his office and waiting room at the actual SI Building. She sat down on the edge of it, crossing one ankle over the other.

Tony entered Obie's office without asking if he was busy. His mentor was sitting at his desk, talking on the phone.

"Did you know the guy from the orphanage was a scumbag?"

"Uh, Senator, I'm going to have to call you back. Yes, thank you. Goodbye," Obadiah hung up the phone and motioned for Tony to take a seat, "Didn't catch that. What's going on, Tone?"

"The whole orphanage thing is a sham! I am paying millions of dollars for those kids to have a good home, and now I find out that this Patterson guy is keeping all the money for himself, getting drunk and HITTING KIDS!"

"Tony, the man came very highly recommended. I'm sure whoever told you was exaggerating."

"She is NOT exaggerating!" said Tony, standing up once more, "Trust me, I know."

"Tony, whatever you see in some little kid…"

"Is completely accurate! I know when a kid is telling the truth about being abused because I used to lie about it all the time! I want him fired, Obie! I want Patterson sued and I want him fired!"

"And who's going to replace him?"

"We'll find someone. I'll find someone myself if I have to. But I want that guy out of that orphanage. Today."

And with that, Tony stepped out of the office, leaving Obie to solve whatever his CEO wanted to be solved. One of these days, Obadiah Stane was going to get fed up with Tony Stark's capricious behavior and get him out of this company once and for all.


	2. Chapter 2

**Second chapter! I realize that Tony might seem a little OoC in some of the scenes, but I guess he needs to be in order for him to do what he's going to do next. Also, I think that if Tony ever found a kid who won his heart, he would want to be a lot better than Howard had been, and so he would try really hard to be different, even if he does mess up every now and again.**

**Disclaimer: Like I said, a lot of people own Marvel things. I own no Marvel things.**

January, 1999

Josephine sat with her legs dangling off the edge of the counter in Tony's lab at Stark Industries. She wasn't allowed to visit his lab at home, but she could go to SI under the pretense of a "junior internship program" without having a social worker breathing down her and Tony's necks all day.

She spent three days a week at Stark Industries, watching Tony work for up to two hours before somebody arrived to pick her up.

"Mr. Stark?"

"How many times do I have to tell you my name before you finally start to use it?"

"Sorry," she looked down. That kid really did apologize far too much to be a kid.

"What's up?" he asked, wiping his hands and giving her his undivided attention. He'd learned that letting her know he was listening always cheered her up.

Josephine's admiration for Tony was borderline worship ever since she'd gotten home that first day to find Mr. Patterson packing his bags and being replaced by the extremely kind Mrs. Carter, who preferred to be called Aunt Peggy. Aunt Peggy was nice, gentle, warm, and everything that Mr. Patterson wasn't. She was already kind of old, but she moved so fast and sat so straight that you wouldn't think she was a day over forty. Tony said she used to be a soldier, and then a spy.

"Do you think the world is gonna end when this year is over?" she asked with her usual wide-eyed wonder. Tony could tell he would have to be serious about this one, because his opinion on the matter would probably settle her opinion as well.

"No way, kid. We've still got a few thousand years of floating around up here in this part of space. Don't worry about those crazy people on the street are saying. Unless I'm one of them then you better believe everything they're saying."

Josephine giggled and jumped off the counter, walking toward the wall of pictures in the back, all of inventions made by Tony and Howard at some point in the past. Tony watched her in silence, a big question weighing in his mind. He'd been thinking about this for months now, ever since she'd started coming into the lab to watch him. She'd seen those pictures a million times and yet she always found something new and equally interesting. He was only 28, but he knew he wasn't going to settle down with someone any time soon. Maybe never. He also knew that in her six years, she'd been through her fair share of hell and maybe he could do something to help that. He wasn't perfect, but he figured he was better than an orphanage with twenty other kids.

"Hey Joei?"

"Yes?"

"You ever think about leaving the orphanage?"

She turned to look at him, confused, "And go where?"

"You know," he shrugged nonchalantly, starting to tinker with an engine, "To a home…with a family."

"Oh," she frowned slightly, "you mean leaving with a mommy and a daddy."

"Well, yeah," he shrugged again, "Or, you know, any other type of family. There are all types of families."

"Like my friend Christina from first grade. She has two mommies. One lives with her and her daddy and the other one lives in New Jersey and Christina goes to visit her on weekends."

"Or some people don't have any mommies," said Tony, finally giving up on the engine and looking at Joei again, "For example, if you came to live with me…"

"With you?!" her eyes lit up and she nearly jumped in the air.

"I understand if you don't…wait. Do you want to? I mean you already spend half your time here but you can't go to the house but if I adopted you then you could live there and we could do science there together and you wouldn't have to share a room or your toys or—"

"YES!" she squealed and ran toward him, hugging his legs, "Yes I want to!"

"Great," he sighed in relief and patted her head. He was still getting used to the whole "little girls love hugs" thing, "I'll go talk to Peggy and the social worker first thing in the morning."

"Obie said you have a meeting tomorrow."

"Colonel Ross can wait. I don't like that guy anyway."

June 7th, 1999

It had taken six months of visits to the orphanage, which was now run by one retired Margaret Carter, an old friend who had been like family to Tony as he grew up. He'd had five meetings with a social worker, two full assessments of his home, and endless signatures. But finally that little girl who had walked into Stark Industries on a miserable birthday was now a Stark. Josephine Margaret Stark, to be exact.

It was fairly difficult trying to leave the orphanage. The entire entrance was packed with reporters trying to get a look at the new "Stark Princess" as the media had taken to calling her. In the end, Happy pulled up out back to grab the tiny suitcase and one ratty brown backpack that contained all of Joei's possessions, and Tony and Peggy shielded Joei as best as they could.

"Thank you for taking care of her, Aunt Peggy," Tony kissed the woman's cheek. She was probably the only person he ever sincerely thanked for anything.

"You know I'd do anything for you, Anthony."

"Except stop calling me Anthony," Tony rolled his eyes.

"Don't pout," she ordered in a way that always reminded Tony of the old pictures of her in that army uniform, "And do me a favor. Start looking for someone else to come take care of this place. I've fallen in love with these kids, but I won't be able to take care of them for long. I'm almost seventy-six, Anthony, and that old gunshot wound in my left leg bothers me more and more each day."

"I chose you for this because you're perfect," he kissed her hand, "But if you're sure."

"I'm sure. When this is over, I'm going to go bother my children and grandchildren for a while, and then maybe I'll check myself into an old folk's home."

"Don't forget to bother your nephew for a few years, too."

"Nah," she shook her head, "He's a busy man. He's got another mouth to feed now, and a company to run. Now go on. And make sure to get a picture of Joei's face when she sees the house."

As they drove away from the house, Josephine sat back down and stared at Tony in that same awestruck way that she always did. She had a family now. A dad. A real dad and a real house and maybe one day she would even have a mom and a puppy and brothers or sisters. No more Josephine Danvers. That was the name they'd given her at the orphanage. Now she was Josephine Margaret Stark.

"You okay, kid?" he asked, putting a hand over her head.

She smiled and nodded, too excited to say anything, and he kissed the top of her head. Tony had to hold back a smile when she snuggled into his side, keeping a tight grip on Lenny the Giraffe. He was all too aware of Happy watching and smiling through the rearview mirror.

October 12, 1999

"Rise and shine."

Joei yanked the covers over her head, trying to sleep for a few more minutes.

"Come on, birthday girl. Just you and me today."

At that, she realized that it was not her nanny waking her up as usual.

"Daddy!"

She hopped up immediately, lunging to hug him.

"Good morning, Princess," he laughed, jabbing at the nickname that the media had stuck with the entire past year. "Is her highness ready for the day's festivities?"

"Yes, yes, yes!"

"Well okay then! Buuuuut…before you get dressed, there's something I want to give you now, before we start the day."

"A present?" her eyes lit up in a way that tugged at where he supposed his heart was. Even after six months, she always looked like receiving a gift was the most incredible, impossible thing in the world.

"Just the one for now. I've got a few other things saved for later," he pulled a small box from his jacket pocket, "Other than your birthday, do you remember what happened exactly one year ago?"

"I met you, Daddy," she smiled that sweet smile that she always used when she called him Daddy, as if the word left a nice taste in her mouth.

"Exactly," he touched her nose, "Which is why I have decided that your birthday is extra, extra special. Because it's not just the day you were born, but also the day that I was reborn."

Joei giggled, "What?"

"I'm serious, Josephine," he said, and she stuck her tongue out at the name, "The day I met you I became somebody completely new, and I knew that day would always be really special, and that I never wanted you to look so miserable and lonely on your birthday ever again."

He handed her the box, which she proceeded to rid of its colorful paper and open. Inside was a small chain made of white gold, to which clung a small square shaped charm engraved with a letter S and the date 06-04-98.

"Joei, I promise you that no matter how old you are, I will always be here for you on your birthday. Growing up, I spent one too many birthdays feeling just the way you did the day I met you. I spent one too many birthdays alone. I never want you to feel like that again, so I promise to always be there, from now until I die, for every single one of your birthdays, and to make each one more special than the last."

He took the chain and clasped it around her neck. Her eyes were full of tears as she took the small square in her hand, giving it a small squeeze before flinging herself into her father's arms.

December 30, 1999

"Carla, I want to be an astronaut when I grow up."

"An astronaut?" Carla asked from behind the counter where she was chopping veggies in the hope that Joei would eat at least a couple pieces of broccoli.

"Yeah," Joei smiled, her attention back on the TV screen that was playing videos of the first moon landing, "So I can go to the moon."

"NASA isn't sending the astronauts to the moon anymore," said Carla.

"Oh," Joei's eyebrows knit together and she looked dejectedly at the floor before reaching for the remote to change the channel.

"Don't change that channel, Josephine," Tony Stark's sharp voice made Carla almost cut her finger. That man had a knack for showing up unexpectedly. Joei didn't even blink. After a year living with Tony Stark, she was used to his random appearances. She did, however, make a face at the use of her first name.

"Hello, Mr. Stark," Carla said politely. Joei didn't like that about Carla. When it was just the two of them, Carla always sounded bored. As soon as her father showed up, she was all nice and polite and bubbly.

"Carly," he nodded briskly before leaning against the counter, "My kid wants to go to the moon. She can. She will even if I have to build her a rocket myself. You don't tell my kid what she can and can't do. I'm the dad. I do that. And I tell her she can do anything she wants to do with her life. She wants to go to the moon, you tell her she can go to the moon."

Joei watched silently from her seat, knowing where this was probably headed.

"Kido, pack an overnight bag. Rhodey is taking you to New York while I'm in Berlin."

Joei's mouth fell open, "New York? I get to see the ball drop in real life?"

"You bet, kiddo. Get started on that bag, I'll be right up. Carly, you're dismissed."

Joei sighed as Carla huffed and left the kitchen. Carla was her fourth nannie this year. Still, she wasn't sorry to see the lady go. Carla was not very fun, and she ignored Joei when she could.

"Daddy, can't Happy be my nanny?"

Tony snorted, "If Happy became your nanny, who would drive us around?"

"Rhodey?" she suggested.

"Rhodey's got his own job, kid. Which reminds me, I should call Rhodey and tell him he's taking you to New York. Otherwise I'll have to tell the PA and I don't even know her name yet, let alone trust her."

Joei giggled, "Her name's Allison, Daddy."

"Right," said Tony, holding the phone to his ear, "Hey Rhodes, you doing anything fun this New Year? I can set you up on a date with a seven year-old…"

January 2, 2000

"Happy New Year, kid," said Tony as he walked into the living room, Maya Hansen's research still swimming through his brain. He ruffled the girl's hair while she tried to look around him at the TV.

"Your daughter has decided she wants to be a ballerina," said Rhodey, smiling in amusement as Joei jumped off the couch to mimic a movement of the ballerina on TV.

"When I left two days ago you wanted to be an astronaut, now you want to be a ballerina?"

"An ice ballerina, Dad!" she corrected, spinning with her hands over her head.

"Well then," said Tony, walking to the bar to pour himself a drink, "Tomorrow Happy will take you to buy ice skates and a tutu. I'll tell Allison to sign you up for ice ballerina classes or whatever those are called."

"Figure skating classes, Daddy."

"Yeah. Those. Anything you want, kid," Tony winked at the little girl, who in turn beamed happily at him. Rhodey meanwhile looked at the all too tall glass of scotch in Tony's hand and glared.

October 12, 2000

"_Happy birthday to me, happy birthday to me_," Josephine sang to herself as she ate breakfast. By herself. It was her eighth birthday, and Dad said that they were going to go get breakfast together at her favorite place before leaving. But then he'd shut himself up in his lab about two days ago and she'd only seen him come out once or twice to grab a bottle from the bar or a bag of chips from the kitchen.

Her nanny had woken her up, helped her pick out a pretty dress that she knew Dad liked, and Josephine had rushed to the living room at nine in the morning to wait. She'd waited until eleven thirty until she could no longer stand the rumbling in her stomach and her nanny had made her pancakes. At least they had chocolate chips and were in the shape of a heart.

She clutched at the ever present square of white gold against her chest. So much for making each birthday more special than the last.

Just as she was eating the last one, the door to the kitchen slid open and in walked Tony Stark, still wearing the same clothes as two days ago and sporting extremely red eyes.

"Kid, I thought we were going to get breakfast."

"I got hungry, Dad," she said quietly. It was okay, really. Daddy was a busy guy. He was Tony Stark, the man that made all the weapons for the entire United States, so of course he had a busy schedule. And being here beat the orphanage from two years ago where she'd been lucky to get a full meal each day.

"What time is it?" he asked, refilling his coffee.

"Noon."

Tony stared at the clock on the wall and facepalmed, "Joei, I'm so sorry."

"It's okay," she shrugged, "There's still my party."

"I have a meeting about an hour before so I might be a little late, but Emily and Happy will get you there and we'll meet up, alright?"

"Okay," she shrugged again and averted her gaze toward her last pancake. It tasted like cardboard.

That night, Tony showed up near the end of her giant birthday party. During the last hour of the event, he came in, hugged her, and disappeared behind the bar. When they finally stumbled into their house at midnight, Happy carrying a very sleepy Joei, Tony took her into the backyard to see the biggest playhouse/Jungle Jim she'd ever seen.

"Thank you, Daddy!" she wriggled out of Happy's arms, hugged her father, and went off to explore what consisted of a very large tree house (built on a fake tree), every type of swing ever invented, three see-saws, two sets of Monkey Bars, two regular slides, and one crazy slide.

"I think I'm getting the hang of this parent thing, Happy," Tony half-slurred.

"Sure, boss."

"What?" Tony was suddenly at full attention.

"What?"

"You don't think I'm a good father," Tony accused.

"I never said that, Boss."

"You meant it."

Happy said nothing. He only watched Joei sleepily climb up to the tree house.

"Let it out, Happy. I won't fire you for your opinion. Which you ought to consider an honor because if you were anybody else, you would not have that privilege."

"With all due respect, Boss. This is great and all, but pretty soon toys and ballet classes are not going to be enough."

"I'll buy her a car."

"That's not what I meant. You know what I meant."

And with that, Happy went back inside, leaving a very distraught and slightly tipsy Tony Stark to watch his daughter run about the yard with a giant grin on her face. Toys and ballet classes were enough for now, at least until he got a better hang on this parenting thing. At least he wasn't Howard.

**Tony is trying to be a good dad, he really is. But we can't be perfect, can we?**

**Please review!**


	3. Chapter 3

**A/N: In this chapter, we introduce your favorite strawberry blonde, Miss Pepper Potts. Because every girl needs a grown up woman in her life.**

**Disclaimer: I do not own any Marvel thingies.**

November 10, 2003

"Oh, hello."

Joei looked up from her science fair project. She was currently sitting on the floor of the large living room, a couch cushion under her butt and notes, supplies, a science board, and numerous colors and markers surrounding her. Looking up at the woman made her feel self-conscious in her messy copper brown ponytail, sweats, glasses and brace-face glory.

The woman was around her late twenties, maybe early thirties, wearing a dark blue pencil skirt and grey blouse with some grey heels. She was very pretty, her hair a nice shade of strawberry blonde and a few freckles splattered across her face. She also had a pretty amazing body. Nice boobs. Yep. Dad sure knew how to pick 'em.

"Uh, hi," Joei said awkwardly, not really sure how she should react to this woman. Was she a PA? Was she an employee? Was she a date? A one night stand? Please not another nanny. She was eleven for crying out loud! And in middle school now! She did NOT need another nanny.

"I'm Virginia Potts. I'm Mr. Stark's new PA," she smiled. Wow. Even her voice was pretty, "You must be Josephine."

"Joei," she corrected, "Or Maggie. Some people call me Maggie."

"Oh. Okay," Virginia smiled again, "Joei it is, then. You can call me Pepper if you want. That's what my brothers used to call me."

"Used to?"

"I haven't talked to them in a while," Pepper shrugged.

Joei stared at Pepper for a while, trying to figure out what this woman wanted. Most PAs wanted something. Especially the pretty ones. But based on the length of her skirt, and the fact that she had acknowledged Joei's existence, it looked as though Miss Potts was actually here to work. She gave the woman four months. Maybe six. Maybe.

"You want to sit down? I was about to take a break from this."

Pepper smiled and nodded, taking a seat on the edge of the couch in such a dainty way that for a second Joei thought she might just be hovering over it.

"What are you working on?"

"Science fair project," said Joei, getting up and flipping on the TV, "I'm comparing different types of alternate energy."

"Beats my sixth grade science fair project," said Pepper, "I made a volcano."

Joei chuckled, "Hey. How did you know I was in sixth grade?"

"I did my research."

Joei stared at her for a few more minutes, "Not to be rude or anything, but why are you in our house? Most PAs just help my dad in the office and call him when something needs to be done any other time. You can answer honestly."

Miss Potts looked confused at that, "Oh, well, Mr. Stark said he wanted an assistant that could keep him organized in all aspects of his life."

"He sent you here to check on my project, didn't he?"

"He thought I might find it interesting," Pepper tried, and failed, to look nonchalant.

"You're a bad liar, Miss Potts," Joei smiled, "But I like you, so I promise to show you my science fair project if you promise to get my dad to crawl out of his lab and go to the science fair this year. I'm sure I'm going to get a blue ribbon and I want him there for it."

"I promise," said Pepper, "What are you working on?"

November 30, 2003

Her dad was late. Again. The science fair had started an hour and a half ago and he wasn't here. She should have known better than to get her hopes up. Over the years, Tony had been busy for many of her events. He'd been to maybe one ballet recital, and two of her ice skating competitions (in one of which she had fallen because she was so nervous), and he hadn't been to any of the Father's Day celebrations she'd had at school, either. Still, he'd managed to keep his promise to her about birthdays, even if he did end up arriving late or leaving tipsy on more than one occasion.

But she'd thought it might be different this time, because of Pepper. She was so organized, and her dad obviously liked her, and he actually listened to most of what she said. Not to mention that this wasn't some artsy thing. It was a science fair. Her dad loved science. She thought for sure he would be here, but as she scanned the crowd, her frown just got deeper.

"Looking for us?" a woman's voice said behind her.

She turned to come face to face with Happy, Pepper, and her dad.

"You came!" she said mostly to her father than the others.

"Of course I came. I wouldn't miss you getting your science on, kid."

"This is impressive," said Happy, "I can't understand half of it, but it's impressive."

Pepper laughed, "We're going to look around at the other projects."

"Gotta scout out that competition," Tony whispered, making Joei giggle.

"Just don't get into any arguments about advanced quantum physics, okay? We're all still in sixth grade."

"Not making any promises," he called back as he walked away.

Twenty minutes later, the judges were preparing to hand out ribbons. Joei looked around and found Pepper walking toward her, without her dad.

"Where's dad?"

"He, uh, he got a call from Obadiah, Joei," said Pepper, looking more sorry than her dad probably was, "He said he would only be gone a few minutes. He should be back in time for the ribbons."

"It must have been important, I guess," Joei shrugged, trying not to look too disappointed. Happy drove pretty fast, and he knew his way around city traffic, but Stark Industries was at least a fifteen minute drive from here.

"Of course, otherwise Obie wouldn't have called. With more and more troops getting deployed so fast, this whole thing is growing more than he and your dad imagined. They've had to find materials from almost every corner of the earth to keep making weapons."

Joei scrunched her nose. She didn't like fighting. She didn't like violence. And yet here she was, Heiress of Death; The Merchant's Daughter. Those nicknames had only recently come up in the media. Joei guessed calling her Princess Stark made her dad look too good for the media's liking.

When Tony and Happy finally arrived, it was twenty minutes after Joei had received first place. She smiled for the pictures, her stomach churning at the smell of expensive alcohol and cigar smoke on her dad's jacket.

September 13th, 2004

Joei rushed out of the car, leaving her backpack behind. She'd needed to pee since an hour before school let out, but a busted pipe in the only girls' bathroom that wasn't absolutely disgusting had burst, leaving her to either use the gross old thing by the gym or hold it in until she got home. She deeply regretted her decision now.

"JARVIs, please tell me the downstairs bathroom is free," she practically screamed at the AI as she burst through the front door, tossing her backpack on the ground.

"It is free, Miss Stark."

"Thank you thank you thank you!" she ran as best as she could to the bathroom, slammed the door closed, and rushed to relieve her aching lower belly.

As she was about to reach for toilet paper, something caught her eye.

There was a red stain on her beige undergarments.

"Oh no. What do I do?"

"I believe there are feminine products used in this sort of situation, Miss Stark."

"Yes, JARVIS, I took Health Ed," she rolled her eyes, and then realized the AI was only trying to be helpful. But she knew there wouldn't be any in the house, seeing as she was the only female living in it. And just the thought of having to go downstairs to the labs and asking her dad to buy _pads_ for her made her red in the face. Also, she knew that Dad's answer would be "Tell Happy to go buy them," and while Happy had been around since she'd moved in, she wasn't entirely comfortable with the idea of driving to the store with Happy to buy pads.

"Hey, JARVIS?" she asked, suddenly getting an idea.

"Yes, Miss Stark?"

"Is Pepper around?"

"I believe she and your father are in the labs at the moment."

"Pepper? He let Pepper in the lab?"

"Yes, Miss Stark."

"Wow," she raised her eyebrows, standing and putting her pants back on, "That's something you don't see every day. Dad barely even lets Rhodey go in there. JARVIS, could you ask Pepper to come up here? Just Pepper, please. Make sure dad doesn't come with her."

"Of course, Miss Stark."

In the lab, Pepper was berating Tony over his lack of responsibilities.

"Mr. Stark, this decision should have been made months ago. It's not something that can be left to the last minute."

Tony continued to tinker with the hot rod engine in front of him, not looking at his assistant as he answered, "Then you make it, Miss Potts."

Pepper's anger turned to outright shock, "I—excuse me?"

"Excuse me, Miss Potts," JARVIS' voice cut through, startling her slightly as it always did. Even after three months with the AI around, it was still a little creepy to her.

"Yes, JARVIS?"

"Miss Stark is requesting your immediate presence."

"Me?" asked Pepper, looking up toward the roof even though Mr. Stark insisted that his AI did not live there.

"Yes, Miss Potts. She says it is urgent."

"Is she okay?" asked Tony, immediately dropping his wrench and giving JARVIS his undivided attention. Pepper called it "going into Dad mode" in her head, "Is she hurt? Where is she?"

"In the downstairs bathroom, sir."

"Well what are we doing here? Let's go!" Tony practically pushed Pepper toward the door.

"I'm sorry, sir, but she specifically requested for you NOT to come along. Only Miss Potts."

Tony looked at Pepper as if she had deeply betrayed him.

"Fine. Go on, Miss Potts."

"I'm sure it's nothing," she said, looking at the floor.

"Of course it isn't," he said, turning back to the engine to hide the obvious pout on his face and grumbling, "If it were something, she'd want her dad around."

Pepper took that as her queue to leave. Just as she was reaching the door, she heard her name being called.

"Yes, Mr. Stark?"

"Let me know if she needs anything."

Ten minutes later, he had failed completely at focusing on the hot rod engine.

"JARVIS, is everything okay up there?"

"Yes, sir. I can hear laughing."

"Oh," he felt something strange. Surely not jealousy.

Tony Stark did not get jealous. But there was something that told him that his daughter and his PA were sharing a moment. Perhaps a very special moment. And he realized that Joei was getting older every day. She wasn't a little girl anymore, and that moment Happy had talked about a few years back had finally arrived. Daddy and toys were not enough. She was at a point where sometimes she would need a woman around to help her through, because there were things in her life that he would never be able to completely understand even if he tried his best. There were things only another girl would be able to tell her first hand about.

Pepper sent word with JARVIS that she was going to drive down to the pharmacy, and he realized this was the first of those times. Joei had trusted Pepper with her first "girl only" experience, which meant that she trusted Pepper. And if his daughter trusted this woman, it was enough for him. He had a feeling Pepper was going to beat the record six months of being his PA by a long shot.

**A/N: So this was mostly just to establish Joei's relationship with Pepper, since she's one of the few people Tony let in, I imagine she would be a big part of Joei's life, too.**


	4. Chapter 4

**2008 now. Anybody remember what takes place in 2008? No? No? Maybe? hehehe We'll see.**

_**Disclaimer: I do not own an Avengers related arcs, characters, names, ideas, etc.**_

October 12th, 2008

"Good morning, Miss Stark, and Happy Birthday."

"Thanks, JARVIS," Joei yawned and stretched in bed before flinging off the covers.

"Breakfast is waiting for you downstairs. Your father is currently changing into his clothes for the day and Miss Potts is waiting in the kitchen."

"Where are we going?"

"I was asked not to tell, Miss Stark."

"Then how am I supposed to know what to wear?" she asked, walking into her considerably large closet.

"Miss Potts advises something casual that will allow you to blend in, Miss Stark."

"Thank you, JARVIS."

After showering, changing, and brushing her hair, she walked downstairs to find Pepper and her dad sitting at the breakfast table, waiting for her with a big stack of pancakes for each of them.

"Happy Birthday!"

Dad was dressed in jeans, a Guns N Roses t-shirt and his sunglasses were folded on the table. She was fairly used to seeing him in casual clothes on weekends and days he spent in the lab. What he was not used to was seeing Miss Virginia Potts dressed in a pale yellow tee, skinny jeans and sandals.

"Alright, can somebody please tell me where we're going that makes blending in so important? I mean I don't think I've ever seen Pepper in shoes that weren't at least three inches high," Joei said as she started pouring syrup on her pancakes.

"Should we tell her?" asked Tony.

"You're the dad," Pepper shrugged, giving him the butter.

Joei's fork clanked onto the table.

"What's up with you?" asked Tony, chuckling lightly.

"Pepper just handed you something," she said, looking between her dad and his assistant and hoping against hope that they had _not_ slept together. Because once Tony Stark slept with a woman, she was never seen in their house again.

"We're not sleeping together," Tony stated.

"Tony!" Pepper turned every shade of red from tomato to her hair.

"What? She was thinking it! Weren't you, kid?"

"Well, yeah," Joei answered, "And hoping it wasn't true."

"W-why not?" Pepper asked nervously, still pink in her ears and cheeks.

"Because I rather like you, Pepper, and I didn't want today to be the last time I ever saw you."

"Oh," Pepper flushed even further.

"I guess Pepper just earned her place around this house," said Tony, "And having a place in this house means you're allowed to hand me things."

"Like me and Rhodey."

"Rhodey and I," Pepper corrected.

"Yeah, that. So, will you guys tell me where we're going now?"

"Oh, right, that," Tony smiled, "Well it's your sixteenth birthday, kid. And I believe California law states that sixteen is the appropriate age for a learner's permit. We're taking you to the DMV."

"Seriously?!" she screeched, making Tony scrunch up his nose as she went over to hug him, "Thank you thank you thank you!"

"We have to hurry, though," said Pepper, "Otherwise we won't have time to go car shopping before your dad has to go."

"Car shopping? Are you serious?"

"But you're not allowed to drive any car you choose until _after_ I get a look at it," said Tony.

"Just don't install any missiles into it, okay?" Joei laughed.

"Wouldn't dream of it kid."

After breakfast they headed to the DMV, which as usual in the state of California meant waiting in line for a good hour and half before Joei could take her test, which she proceeded to pass on the first try.

After a quick lunch at Applebee's, which Pepper insisted on due to their lack of appropriate clothes for any nice restaurants, they headed to the Mercedes-Benz dealer so that Joei could pick out a car. It took about three hours because, although Joei liked the second car she laid eyes on, Tony had to go through every last detail to make sure it was safe and luxurious enough for his only child to drive.

"Tony, you need to get ready as soon as we get home. The plane for Vegas leaves in about 2 hours. Joei, you and I have an appointment with the designer to make final alterations on your dress in an hour."

They pulled up at the house and Pepper and Joei went upstairs to change into nicer clothes. Before they left, they popped into Tony's room where he was trying to choose between two equally bad ties. Pepper went to his closet and pulled out the right one.

"And please try to remember that you have an early plane tomorrow. No drinking beyond reason. Be nice when you accept the award. Do not crack any inappropriate jokes at Rhodey when he hands it to you. And just make it home, alright? I need you here early so you can make your plane."

"I'm a big boy, Miss Potts. I will try my best to behave myself tonight," he fiddled with his watch and tried to pick out the right belt.

"I find that very hard to believe, but there's nothing else I can do. Your bag is already packed for tomorrow, your plane leaves at seven."

"Dad, you'll be back in time for the party Saturday, right?" asked Joei.

Tony stopped putting on his belt, the end of it only halfway through the loop and got that look on his face that meant "serious dad mode."

"Josephine Margaret Stark. What is our deal with birthdays?" he asked, stepping toward his daughter.

Joei smirked and rolled her eyes, "They're the most important day of the year and we always spend them together."

"And that includes all birthday-related festivities. It's your Sweet Sixteen, kid. I wouldn't miss that for the world. When have I ever broken my birthday promise?"

"Never," she sighed. But he'd never had to go into war-ridden Afghanistan just days before her birthday party, either.

"And I'm not starting now, Princess" he kissed the top of her head, which at five foot seven was almost level with the top of his head these days, and went back to putting on his belt, "You girls enjoy your shopping trip. Take one of my credit cards, buy yourself a few nice things, go out to dinner or order pizza and watch a movie or whatever. Have a sleepover, my treat. Don't wait up for me."

"Yes, sir," Pepper fake saluted, "Come on, Joei. We don't want to be late for your fitting."

Joei spent most of the ride in Pepper's car staring out the window and worrying about her dad. _Don't wait up for me_ usually meant _I'm going to get extra drunk_ or _I'm going to have a one night stand and I don't want Joei to see me walking in with a random stranger._ Her dad wasn't perfect. She knew that from the start, and she'd understood it more and more as she grew older.

He never talked about his past, especially not about her grandparents. There were no pictures of Howard in the house. There was only one of Maria, in one of the far corners of the house, close to the bar. There were two of Aunt Peggy, one in dad's room, another in her room. The living room, the hallways, and all the other stretches of bare wall were covered in expensive art that Pepper had collected over the years, in pictures of Joei growing up, and in pictures and posters of Tony, all of them recent and none from his childhood or teen years. The oldest picture of Tony in the whole house was from the day he was announced as CEO, twenty-one years old and standing next to James Rhodes, their arms around each others shoulders and smiles plastered on their faces that didn't quite meet their eyes because although it was a great day for Stark Industries, it was haunted by the memory of Howard Stark, and the fact that Tony didn't think he'd have to go through this party until he was at least forty.

He'd lost his youth before it even started, and he was always trying to get it back, to push it in between meetings and dance recitals and press conferences. Now that she was older, it was probably easier for him. She could do most things on her own, or ask Pepper for help while he went off and partied, drank, slept around. She hated those nights, when he'd tell them not to wait up, because she knew that deep down that wasn't Tony Stark. That was a man desperate to fill the hole that his parents had always left, the one which had only grown when they had died and he hadn't known whether to cry or not. The fact that she understood that made her sad, because she'd spent the first six years of her life with that same hole in her heart, but it had filled with the care of Tony Stark over the years. But while Tony was so busy taking care of her, of his company, and of his country, there was nobody around to take care of him.

"Hey, cheer up," Pepper nudged her with her elbow, "I can't plan a Sweet Sixteen with the birthday girl all in a funk."

"Sorry. Just worried, I guess," she shrugged and turned up the radio.

"He'll be okay," Pepper smiled in that way that made everything light up, "It's just one day, and Rhodey won't let him out of his sight for a second."

She realized that Pepper was thinking about what Joei had been trying hard not to think about. Dad's trip to Afghanistan tomorrow.

"I don't understand why the army can't just come to some desert _here_ and see the missiles. Why do they have to send dad there?"

"It's just easier for them, I suppose. They didn't want to send a representative. They want to see the Jericho for themselves."

"I hate the army."

"You like Rhodey."

"I hate the army minus one."

"The Heiress of the War hates the army," Pepper snorted, "The irony."

"I hate that name, too," Joei grumbled.

"Don't we all?" Pepper mumbled back.

**This was more or less a filler chapter, setting us up for the real action that is to come. Also, I realize that in the beginning of Iron Man Tony isn't exactly father material, so I needed to find a balance between Dad Tony and Movie Tony. So basically, Tony tries to be a good dad, and whenever he hits a roadblock, he just buys his daughter nice things and hopes for the best. He's still an asshole to most people, but he rarely directs any sarcastic comments at Joei and he never directly lies to her, even if he does skirt around the truth sometimes. **


	5. Chapter 5

**Disclaimer: Joei is of my own creation, but everything else pertaining to Marvel belongs to its creators, none of which are me.**

October 13, 2008

Pepper woke Joei at six thirty in the morning the day after her fitting. She remembered falling asleep on the couch, but her father must have carried her upstairs sometime during the night, most likely after his one night stand had fallen asleep.

"Is she still in the house?" she asked groggily just as Pepper was on her way out the door.

"Not for long. Hurry along so you can eat something and say goodbye to Tony before you have to leave for school." said Pepper.

Pepper had laid out her clothes for the day, bless her soul, so it didn't take long for Joei to have her hair up in a ponytail and get ready. She climbed down the stairs at a quarter after seven, and was about to walk into the living room in search of her cell phone when a blonde in a large dress shirt appeared in her peripheral vision. Joei rushed behind a wall before the woman could turn around. Pepper appeared across from her, walking in from the kitchen.

"Get her out," Joei mouthed to Pepper, waving her hand frantically toward the door.

At the same time, JARVIS' voice rang out, "You are not authorised to access this area."

"I _know_ that bitch didn't try to touch JARVIS," Joei whispered under her breath as Pepper stepped out into the living room.

"That's JARVIS. He runs the house. I've got your clothes here. They've been dry-cleaned and pressed, and there's a car waiting for you outside that will take you anywhere you'd like to go."

"You must be the famous Pepper Potts," said the blonde. She was a reporter, Josephine could tell by the way she spoke, and the way she said Pepper's name. Probably for a magazine. Forbes, Vanity Faire, Rolling Stone. Although she doubted Rolling Stone would want another cover so soon.

Joei listened in closely, pressing herself toward the edge of the wall.

"Even after all these years, Tony still has you picking up the dry-cleaning."

She did NOT just say that. That lady had another thing coming if she thought she could insult Pepper Potts in this house. She was about to step out into the living room and give this floozy a piece of her mind when Pepper spoke again.

"I do anything and everything that Mr. Stark requires. Including, occasionally, taking out the trash. Will the be all?"

Joei couldn't help the quiet "Ha!" that escaped her lips.

The woman didn't speak again, but Joei heard her walking toward the guest bathroom to change.

"Way to go, Pepper!" she highfived her father's PA.

"Now if I could only get your dad to walk out of his lab as fast as I can make skanky reporters walk out of this house."

"Maybe we can double up. I have time before I need to leave."

"Let's grab some breakfast, and some coffee for Mr. Works A Lot. Then we can go drag him out of there."

The sounds of blaring rock music reached their ears before they even entered the lab. Pepper turned it down to hear what the person on the other side of the phone was saying.

"Please don't turn down my music."

"You are supposed to be halfway around the world by now," Joei pointed out.

"You're supposed to be at school."

"Not for another thirty minutes."

Tony turned to Pepper, "How'd she take it?"

"Like a champ."

"Before Pepper called her trash and told her to GTFO."

"To what now?"

"I believe it is an abbreviation for get the fuck out, sir," supplied JARVIS.

"Josephine, do not curse. It rots your teeth."

"I'm not seven, dad. That doesn't work anymore," she said, handing her father his coffee.

"Tony, I need to speak to you about a couple of things before I get you out the door," Pepper sighed.

"Why are you trying to hustle me out of here?" Tony turned to his daughter, "Why is she doing that?"

Joei shrugged and went to look at the car her dad was working on while the two adults bickered. He'd been working on the hot rod for a long time, since a couple years after she had arrived. She laughed when she looked inside and saw the ugly key chain she'd made in third grade still hooked onto the keys.

"I need you to sign this before you get on the plane."

"What are you trying to get rid of me for? What, you got plans?"

"As a matter of fact, I do."

"I don't like it when you have plans."

"She's allowed to have plans on my birthday." said Joei.

"Your birthday was yesterday."

"Birthday planning. Party on Saturday. Ring a bell?"

"Right. That."

"And since Saturday is also Pepper's birthday and she's going to have to work, we're taking advantage of you leaving to celebrate early."

"It's your birthday on Saturday?"

"Yes." Pepper smiled in amusement.

"I knew that. Already?"

"Yeah, isn't it strange? It's the same day as last year," Joei muttered loud enough for them to hear as she hoisted herself onto the hood of the hot rod.

"Hey!" Tony turned toward Joei, "No sarcasm against your old man. That is NOT what I taught you sarcasm for. And get your big foot off my wheels."

"I do NOT have big feet."

Tony turned back to Pepper, "Happy early birthday. Get yourself something nice from me."

"I already did."

"And?"

"It was very nice."

"Yeah?"

"Very tasteful. Thank you, Mr. Stark."

"You're welcome, Miss Potts."

Joei was about to scream at them to just kiss already when JARVIS spoke.

"Miss Stark, your car is here."

"Gotta go!" she hopped off the hot rod and rushed to give her dad a hug and a kiss, "Enjoy your trip, Dad. Don't make Rhodey mad."

"When on earth have I ever done THAT?" asked Tony, hugging her back tightly and placing a kiss on top of her head, which he could barely reach now a days, "Promise me you won't grow any taller while I'm away?"

"Promise."

"I'll see you on Friday night, kiddo."

"Okay. Bye."

"Bye."

"Bye, Pepper."

"Don't forget your lunch! It's on the counter!"

"Got it!"

By the time she grabbed her lunch and then rushed back upstairs to put on a pair of earrings, she was almost late to first period. She'd managed to pay attention, since AP U.S. History was her favorite subject, but by the time second period rolled around she was having trouble focusing. She kept chewing on her nails, her mind wandering to her dad's trip to Afghanistan. She even found herself distracted during lunch when her friends started talking about how amazing Saturday's Sweet Sixteen would be.

Joei was the type of girl who was popular, but didn't have many friends. Most of her friends were from Drama Club, and everybody else just showed up to her parties or nominated her for homecoming queen even though she wasn't a senior yet.

After school Pepper had gone to pick her up, and they'd spent the rest of the afternoon doing last-minute organizing and checking the venue and making sure the vendors were all on the same page as them.

She and Pepper were now sat in front of the TV, shoes off and eating takeout while watching My Super Sweet Sixteen of all things.

"You know for a millionaire's daughter that girl has some really bad taste. A cheetah print bodice and teal tulle skirt, really?"

"Money can buy a lot of things, Joei," said Pepper from behind her seating arrangement, "But it can't buy class."

"I wonder how dad's presentation went. He should have finished by now, right? I wonder why he hasn't called."

"Mmm," Pepper nodded, making one last adjustment before closing her planner and grabbing a container of fried rice, "The contract signing must have run pretty late and he must think we're already asleep. It's almost midnight."

"What time is it over there, anyway?"

"Almost noon."

Pepper's phone rang in that moment and she picked it up off the coffee table and smiled, "Speak of the devil. It's a text from Rhodey; your dad must still be signing paperwork. He wants to know if I'm here."

"Tell him we're eating Chinese. He's been dying for some for weeks," said Joei, taking a turn at the Kung Pow Chicken.

"Incoming video call from James Rhodes," says JARVIS just seconds after Pepper sent her reply.

"Put him on, J," Joei stood from the couch, eager to talk to Rhodey and hopefully her dad, "Hey, Rhodey? How'd the deal go?"

Rhodey's face showed worry and another collection of emotions that Joei was not used to seeing when he had his uniform on, "Joei, Pepper, there's been a problem."

"Did they not like the missiles?" asked Pepper, "Wait, did Tony say something stupid? How angry is the General? Was it Ross? If it wasn't Ross then I'm sure I can fix it!"

"Pepper, it's not about the deal," Rhodey mumbled, looking away from the camera.

"Rhodes, where's Dad?" Joei asked slowly, a heavy, cold stone sinking to the bottom of her stomach. No answer, "James!"

"He's missing!" Rhodey finally blurted out, "Tony…Tony's gone missing."

The world started to tilt and Joei felt her bottom land on the couch cushions, her hands flying to her mouth as Pepper stepped closer to the screen.

"Wha…YOU LOST HIM?! How do you lose Tony Stark?!" asked Pepper in an uncharacteristic panicked and screeching voice.

"We were attacked on our way back from the demonstration, Pepper. I tried to get to him, protect him. But then a bomb went off and we all went flying back and…I'm sorry."

"You _tried_ to get to him?" Joei asked, her hands trembling, "What do you mean you tried? You said you were going to be with him at all times!"

Rhodey sighed and ran a hand over his head, clearly feeling guilty for Tony's disappearance, "You know how he gets sometimes. He didn't want me riding in the same Humvee. I guess he thought it was funny, or something. I never thought…I'm so sorry, Joei."

Tears started to spill over her face, but she managed to look up and ask, "How long? How long has he been missing?"

"Two hours. We already have dozens of men looking for him."

"Well send more," she practically screeched, tears falling in cascades down her cheeks now.

"We are. Joei, listen to me. I will not rest another minute until I find your dad, alright? This happened on my watch and I'm going to fix it. I promise. Pepper will stay with you tonight and as many nights as you want her to, alright? I promise I'm going to find Tony and then I am going to find the asshole who took him and make sure he rots in hell. Okay?"

She didn't answer, she just sank back into the couch cushions, her head in her hands and sobs rocking through her body. She didn't pay attention as Pepper went through the motions of contacting Obie, talking about issuing statements and whether or not to hold a press conference and how Joei shouldn't leave the house for anything. All Joei could think about was her dad, out there in the war ridden desert with who knows how many hostiles. Her dad who was used to having everything at the touch of his fingertips probably starving, dying of thirst, maybe being tortured. Why? Why did they want him? Why would they take him? Too many questions sped through her mind as she cried and cried and cried.

She wasn't sure how long it was, but eventually Pepper came to sit next to her, wrapped her arms around her and rested her chin on top of her head. It wasn't until she felt dampness in her hair that she realized that the tears trailing down her chin were not all hers.

After a lifetime, Joei managed to wipe her eyes long enough to see her way up the stairs, out of her clothes and into her bed. Every time she closed her eyes, she imagined all the horrible things her dad might be suffering through. Or worse, she imagined a horrible and painful death, the kind those crazy people out there do. But if she opened her eyes, the tears would come back and refused to stop until she closed them tight again, and so the circle continued.

Sometime around three in the morning she saw a pair of feet pad through the hallway through the crack under the door. Probably Pepper on her way to the guest room.

Joei ran out of tears somewhere around five a.m. and stood. She wasn't going to sleep tonight, that was for sure. She stepped out, intending to go to the bathroom and get some water on her face, but the open door to her left made her stop.

She walked slowly past the guest bedroom, trying not to wake Pepper, and closed her eyes to take in the smell that just screamed Tony Stark as she crossed the threshold of her dad's room. Rhodey would find him. Rhodey _had_ to find him.

She didn't notice the lump beneath the covers until she was almost in the bed, but the shaky breaths told her that Pepper was just as awake as she was. Joei pretended not to notice and clicked the button to bring down the shades in the windows, blocking out the dim light from the moon, stars, and far away street lamps, hoping that complete darkness and the smell of her dad's cologne would help her fall asleep.


	6. Chapter 6

**Did somebody ask for Kick Ass Aunt Peggy? Guess who Joei is going to visit in this chapter? JUST GUESS.**

**Also, slight SPOILER for Captaim America: Winter Soldier, pertaining to Peggy. **

_**Disclaimer: I do not, have not, and will not make money off of these characters or this story, and am using them only for my own personal entertainment, and y'all's.**_

October 14, 2008

Pepper didn't bother waking her for school the day after the dissappearance, or the next. On the third day of watching Joei sitting around the house, trying and failing to not watch the news coverage on her dad's disappearance, Pepper called the school. After promising to pay for new textbooks for the entire private school Joei went to, the Headmistress allowed Joei's classes to be swapped out for virtual ones so she wouldn't miss the semester's credits. If somebody was going to force Josephine to go to school at a time like this, and face her peers at a time like this, it wasn't going to be Virginia Potts.

It was an entire week before Josephine spoke more than a few words, and finally decided to step outside the mansion that she had once thought so big and welcoming, but now only felt lonely and empty.

"Miss Stark," when JARVIS broke the silence it made her jump. Even the AI had been quiet the past few days, as if waiting for indications from his creator, "I have organized a visit to the Elderly Veteran's Home with Margaret Carter for this afternoon."

"Why?" Joei sat up in her bed.

"I am programmed to do so if I were to ever sense symptoms of depression in your system, Miss. Sir believed a visit to Mrs. Carter was the best way to cheer you up. He intended to join you on such trips, but considering the circumstances…"

"I don't know if I should, JARVIS."

It almost sounded like JARVIS sighed and, after a pause, he answered, "Miss Stark, if I may. While I am no expert in sentimentality, the fact remains that your father usually knows what is best for you, even if he doesn't always know what's best for him."

Joei gave a watery laugh, "You're right, JARVIS. And it's been a while since I went to visit Aunt Peggy. She'll want to know everything that's going on directly from me."

"She has spoken to Miss Potts twice, I believe. Mr. Hogan will be here to take you to the airport in two hours."

"Airport?"

"You will be taking the jet, Miss Stark."

"But…but the jet," her head started to spin, "Dad had the jet."

"Colonel Rhodes sent it back three days ago. He will be transporting your father here when they find him."

"Thank you, JARVIS. I guess I should get up and put some real clothes on," she said, getting up slowly and taking in her frizzy hair, puffy eyes, and Snoopy patterned pajamas.

"Miss Potts has asked me to remind you that it has been 48 hours since your last shower."

"Right. Shower. Real clothes. Jet. Aunt Peggy."

"Hi, I'm here to see Margaret Carter," Joei bit her lip, hoping her sunglasses and uncharacteristically messy hair would help hide her identity. At least this was a new nurse, and wouldn't immediately recognize Peggy's "niece."

"Sign in here," said the nurse distractedly.

"I'm a frequent visitor," Joei pulled out her pass when the nurse tried to take a picture for a visitor's pass.

"Go right ahead."

She paused outside the door. She'd stopped crying two days ago. The rational part of her knew that it was impossible to run out of tears, so maybe she'd just run out of energy to cry. Her feet, her arms, even her head felt heavy as she took a step forward and knocked.

Instead of hearing the usual invitation to enter from Peggy, the door opened and revealed Peggy's doctor.

"Doctor Martin," she took a step back, trying to look behind him into the room, "Is something wrong?"

"Peggy is fine," he assured her, closing the door behind him, "But there's something I would like to speak to you about."

"Me?"

"Her family insisted on keeping you and your father informed," said the doctor, "But due to recent events…"

"What is it?" she asked. Everybody kept saying that. Due to recent events. She was going to throw a Sweet Sixteen, she was going to come visit Peggy with her dad, he was going to receive another award, etc…but due to recent events.

"Miss Stark, your aunt has done some tests in the past few weeks, and we've discovered that she is currently in the beginning stages of Alzheimer's."

Her eyes closed immediately, and it took a few deep breaths to calm herself and stay upright before she could answer in a shaky voice, "How long until she…"

"Her progression has been very slow up until now. We suspect that she'll be able to live another two years without it affecting too much of her day to day life. After that there will be some good days and some bad ones."

"And how long until she forgets everything?" Joei forced herself to ask.

"It can be anywhere from three years to ten. She might never forget anything, or she might get stuck with only her memories up until a certain point in her life, or maybe remember only one person. We'll have to make more predictions as time passes."

"Thank you, doctor," she pushed past him and walked into the room, her face feeling tight.

"Oh, great. He told you, didn't he?" came the clipped, accented voice from the bed, "I told him not to tell you but he just couldn't wait. None of them could wait. I told them not to tell you yet."

"I'm fine, Aunt Peggy," Joei forced a smile.

Peggy gave her a stern look, "Put it down."

Joei looked up at her face, confused, "Put what down?"

"That wall you're building up around your emotions, Maggie." Josephine smiled at the fond nickname her aunt had given her. Peggy was always very proud that Howard Stark's granddaughter carried her name, "You're too young to have a wall like that around you. Put it down, and come lie down in your old aunt's arms and cry your eyes out."

It was like Peggy had flipped a switch in her brain. She'd built up a dam to keep the tears at bay without even noticing it. She was tired of crying alone in the dark. She needed somebody to hug her, to listen, to tell her he was coming back.

Peggy held her as she cried, whispering reassuring words as she rocked her back and forth.

"If there is anyone who will make it out of there it's your dad, Maggie. He's tougher than he looks, and smarter than even he thinks, and he loves you much too much not to come back."

"How is love supposed to keep him alive out there?" Joei asked bitterly.

"You'd be surprised how much loving someone can help you stay alive, sweetheart. You'd be very surprised."

**Aunt Peggy to the rescue! **

**Okay so for those of you who have seen Winter Soldier (SPOILER AHEAD), the scene where Peggy suddenly forgets she was talking to Steve and cries like she's seeing him for the first time seriously effed me OVER so bad. And then they don't even give you time to recover before the next scene. So I needed to get some closure, I suppose.  
>Also, it looked to me like Peggy was a bit advanced in the disease during Cap 2, so I figured Joei had to find out sometime around here.<strong>


	7. Chapter 7

**This chapter is relatively short, but I can tell your right now that some very exciting stuff is about to go down.**

**_Disclaimer: Marvel owns all Avengers-related characters and plot lines. I just come here to have a good time._**

Joei sat crosslegged in front of the computer, an English textbook in her lap. She'd been in the same position for the past six hours, but she didn't dare take a break. This was her new day to day schedule. She'd get up, have breakfast, sit down at the computer and "go to school" until dinner, after which she would return to the computer until she could no longer keep her eyes open. Pepper would usually show up and set a plate of lunch down in front of the screen, but Josephine would push it to the side and eat while she read, listened to lectures, wrote essays, and took quizzes.

She knew this much school was probably unhealthy, and that her eyes were getting practically fried by spending so much time at a screen, but she needed something to do. Something to keep her mind occupied every hour of the day. It had been a month since she'd gone to see Aunt Peggy. Five weeks since her dad had gone missing. And still nothing. Rhodey was still searching, trying his best to keep the promise he'd made to her when Tony had first gone missing. Sometimes Joei figured he was doing it more for himself than for her. Rhodes was still in denial.

To be honest, Joei herself was still in denial, too. She didn't want to think about her dad, or about terrorist, or about the middle-east. She didn't want to think about nursing homes and Alzheimer's. So she forced herself to focus on school work; 8:00 a.m. to 2:00 a.m., Monday through Sunday.

"Keep it up and you'll be finished with high school a good year and half early."

She jumped up quickly, spinning around to face the blonde owner of the gravelly voice.

"Who are you? How did you get in here?"

"Calm down," the man raised his arms in a gesture of surrender, "I'm not here to hurt you."

"Then why are you here?" she asked warily, her hand grasping her pen a bit tighter. It wasn't the sharpest thing in the house, and the man was considerably taller than her, and he looked very built, but it would have to do.

"Peggy Carter sent me."

She eyed the man carefully. He wore a strange black and burgundy vest with all sorts of straps, buckles and pockets, along with black cargo pants. A gun was holstered on his leg and she could see what looked like arrows and a bow sticking out form his back. He held a rather large portfolio in his hands. She took a step in the direction of the door.

"Why would Peggy send some leathery Robin Hood to break into my house?" she asked, then quickly realized that sassing a possible assassin was not the best idea.

The asshole actually laughed, "Haven't heard that one in a while. Look, I told you I'm not here to hurt you. You ever hear of a little organization called S.H.I.E.L.D?"

"No," she took another step back.

"Stop trying to run away, already. I told you, I'm not going to hurt you. And if I was, I would be able to get to you before you took another three steps toward that door. Jesus, Fury said you might be difficult but I didn't think you'd be this scared shitless."

"I am not scared shitless!" there went that mouth of hers again, working without thinking.

"Then sit down and let me tell my story in peace, won't you?" the man sat on the couch and put his feet on the coffee table. Josephine looked around, picked up her very heavy textbook from where it had slipped off her lap and fallen to the ground, and sat in the desk chair again, one leg poised to run.

"Alright. Say I believe you. Why would Peggy send you here?"

"Well, since you haven't heard of S.H.I.E.L.D, I guess I'll start with that."

"How about starting with a name?" she asked, her face tight.

"You can call me Hawkeye for now. If we ever see each other again, I'll tell you my real name."

"Hawkeye?" she raised an eyebrow.

"I have very good eyesight. Makes up for being partially deaf," he turned to the side and showed her the hearing aid in his left ear, "Anyway. You haven't heard of us, then?"

"No."

"Alright, have you heard of Captain America?"

She straightened up, "We don't talk about him here."

"Well I don't live here, do I?" Hawkeye smirked, "So I'll talk and you listen. I guess you know about Peggy and your grandfather's involvement in creating the Cap?"

Josephine nodded, still scowling.

"Well, after he fell in the ice and the U.S. kicked some Nazi ass, your granddad decided that the world needed somebody to take care of all the big bads and the crazies out there that the Army wasn't used to dealing with. Basically all the weird and freaky shit nobody else could handle. Not to mention, the army refused to keep looking for the good captain. So he created the Strategic Homeland Intervention, Enforcement, and Logistics Division."

"The what now?"

Hawkeye shrugged and answered in his gravelly voice, "The guy was obsessed with Cap, so he really wanted the thing to be called S.H.I.E.L.D. You got anything to drink? My throat is killing me here."

"What happened to your voice?"

"I got punched in the larynx yesterday."

"Why?"

"You gonna keep asking questions or do you want to know why I'm here?"

Josephine stared at him for a while and then sighed, standing up and walking toward the bar to grab a water bottle, "Keep going."

"Well, Howard Stark and Margaret Carter started up S.H.I.E.L.D. Your grandfather kept looking for the Cap until his dying day. Carter was the first Director, followed by Alexander Pierce, and now Nick Fury. Up until a while ago, we've kept our distance in regards to your family at the request of Peggy Carter."

"So what changed?" she asked, dreading the answer.

"She asked us to intervene."

Joei paused again, trying to digest everything she'd heard so far, "Why?"

Hawkeye stared at her for a long time, until she practically squirmed in her desk chair, "Howard never got a chance to tell Tony the truth. She doesn't want to make the same mistake. You're going to finish high school soon. Maybe sooner than we thought if you keep trying to drown yourself in schoolwork."

"So after I finish high school, what? You people want to recruit me?"

"Director Fury has taken an interest in you, and he believes that both you and he could benefit from the form of education S.H.I.E.L.D has to offer."

"And that would be what, exactly? Spy 101?"

"Well we don't usually go around visiting college fairs so I don't have a brochure on me. But it's all here," he dropped the three inch portfolio on the coffee table and stood up, "By the looks of it, you like reading, so it shouldn't take you too long to digest that. It's got all you need to know. My boss's contact information is on the first page. If you're interested, he's the guy you'll want to talk to when you graduate."

Joei picked up the portfolio and looked at the cover. It had a silver bird-looking seal, across which the words CLASSIFIED had been stamped in red. She flipped it open to the first page, which contained four lines of typing on the top right corner:

Philip Coulson  
>S.H.I.E.L.D. Level 8<br>841-3521 Ext. 83  
>Must call from enclosed S.H.I.E.L.D operated cellular phone.<p>

There was a cell phone in a pouch on the front flap.

"Can I use this phone to order pizza?" she asked cheekily, but when she looked up at her intruder, he'd gone.

**Hawkeye! While he isn't my absolute favorite, I do still love him, and I couldn't really imagine this scene with Natasha, so I'm holding on to her for now, at least until the appearance of Natalie Rushman. **


End file.
